The Importance of Cultural Appropriation

When it works, cultural appropriation serves as the basis for something new. But it also widens the audience for the real thing. It's the way the original authentic idea moves into the mainstream. The contrast here is with Elvis. I'm not blaming Elvis directly, but he did a version of Hound Dog. Big Mama Thornton didn't then crash the pop charts afterwards with her versions of Hound Dog or Or. Because there was no room for it, because he'd already did it so well, there was no reason to go back and do the original.